AxeFx II (vs. Ultra) - has anybody actually heard it?

Awesome Sample Scott, thank you.

Wishlist for the upcoming Axe Fx II updates: Warning flash with a Mark Day's facial gurning moment.

I'm one of the European in the waiting list since January and an Axe Fx II is about to arrive!!
Cliff, send the first Axe FxII to Mark, I really need videos on the new beast.
BTW, I think I need a Suhr Modern
 
FractalAudio said:
An incredible amount of work went into the amp modeling. I spent three years refining the algorithms. Heck it took months just to figure out how to model an output transformer.

The Ultra is a great unit. The Axe-Fx II is better. I wish I could retrofit the new algorithms into the Ultra but they won't fit. My latest modeling algorithms simply need a more powerful platform and that's why I developed the II. I listened to the users and developed a product based on their feedback.

The hardware in the Axe-Fx II is really good. Still using all film caps on the I/O. The D/A converters are now buffered with instrumentation amps for improved S/N when doing the 4CM. The circuit board is controlled impedance with gold-plated pads. The layout is "partitioned" and uses EMI filtering between partitions which achieves an incredibly low noise floor. The self-noise is so low that I can barely measure it with my audio interface.

There is a ton of RAM and FLASH for future expansion. There's a 200K gate FPGA that offloads tasks from the processor. Etc., etc., etc.

The Axe-Fx II is the finest hardware I've ever created in my 25+ years as a designer and I've designed probably over 100 circuit boards in that time.
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Read it once - then read it again. Post of the year as far I am concerned - this is why FAS produces the 3 best preamp/FX processors around IMHO. Vision, drive, commitment and passion - kudos to you and your team Cliff.
 
Missed this one on my first skim:
FractalAudio said:
An incredible amount of work went into the amp modeling. I spent three years refining the algorithms. Heck it took months just to figure out how to model an output transformer.

The Ultra is a great unit. The Axe-Fx II is better. I wish I could retrofit the new algorithms into the Ultra but they won't fit. My latest modeling algorithms simply need a more powerful platform and that's why I developed the II. I listened to the users and developed a product based on their feedback.

The hardware in the Axe-Fx II is really good. Still using all film caps on the I/O. The D/A converters are now buffered with instrumentation amps for improved S/N when doing the 4CM. The circuit board is controlled impedance with gold-plated pads. The layout is "partitioned" and uses EMI filtering between partitions which achieves an incredibly low noise floor. The self-noise is so low that I can barely measure it with my audio interface.

There is a ton of RAM and FLASH for future expansion. There's a 200K gate FPGA that offloads tasks from the processor. Etc., etc., etc.

The Axe-Fx II is the finest hardware I've ever created in my 25+ years as a designer and I've designed probably over 100 circuit boards in that time.
Click to expand...
Don't worry Scott. Resale value of Gen1 is toast anyway...
 
Scott Peterson said:
Let me do proper clips once I have things actually dialed in.

It is so easy to dial up tones now. I've never found any box/amp/pedal whatever that gives up the goods like this. The dynamics and clarity are stunning. It's like ripe fruit is on a low hanging branch now - ripe, sweet and ready to pick. The sweet spots are massive. It's more expressive than some of the actual amps - folks will go insane huffing and puffing when I say that; but this is exciting and undeniable. The pick attack and response you can change up with the impedance selector with about a dozen choices there and do that per preset. The in the room parameters in the cab block will make you laugh out loud.

It builds on what the Ultra/Standard already did well and goes beyond...

Here's the FLAC file format:
For bmi/mba: http://www.mediafire.com/?bbbxd77al53ime5
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you will not believe it scott (lol), but now i'm hearing what i was missing with the ultra !
 
That FLAC clip is Pristine. Thanks. Can't wait to crank out the tube screamer and juice things up! I seriously hope G66 gets a collossal order, gotta record my album before someone else does!
 
The AC and Bogner are flippin' great! It's what I heard when I played through one yesterday.
Here's my gooey first impression. Also posted on TGP

I'm not a beta tester but I did plug my axe into one yesterday. Thanks JavaJunkie!

Two words: NAKED and RAW
It was like walking around a room of amps with axe and cable in hand, plugging in and hearing the tone completely exposed.

If there was a Fractal version of the "overhaulin" show, the axe-fx II would be the full reveal at the end except you're there in person and no one else is around. That's kinda what it feels like.

There's WAY more happening inside the tone when you play your guitar; it's so complex you can almost hear the processor sweating inside.

NAKED and RAW

Naked -- It feels like there's nothing between you and the amp. Everything you do with your hands is revealed; everything the amp has to offer is right there smacking you in the face.

Raw -- The translation from hands to rig is stark, raw, humbling reality. Touch the strings just right and WHAM...pure magic rock-god overtone and complexity; touch them wrong...and you're the music store guitar-hack annoying everyone in the place.

The axe-fx II is both a humbling and addictive experience as you chase the tonal rabbit down the rabbit hole -- but instead of chasing it in the modeler, you're chasing it in your hands and heart...which is where it belongs.

Anyway, just first impressions. Hope that makes sense to someone. It barely makes sense to me -- LOL
 
The demo sounds great Scott! Raw, (mostly) unprocessed demos like this are the most useful for me. I won't try to describe what I'm hearing in the demo except to say that it's very convincing, more so than Scott's prior demo's of the Axe-FX.

The recorded representation of the Axe-FX II sounds fantastic Cliff!! Congratulations! :)

I find the Axe-FX to sound as good as most tube amp recordings in a mix. I find the sound of the Axe-FX to be very close to the sound of a mic'd tube amp - so much so that I prefer the Axe-FX for its consistency. I would not describe it as just like a tube amp because it's not. However the Axe-FX is a much more useful tool for recording and performance and it has replaced amps for me and with no regrets.

I'm sure there will me many more reviews and demos to come for the Axe-FX II. I'm looking forward to hear what the current Axe-FX owners think once the excitement has settled a bit. I'm really looking forward to hearing more demos. Once it has been out for a while and proves itself as stable and reliable as the Std/Ultra platform I may order one. I may also choose to wait and watch its development as I did with the Axe-FX. Being new to the Axe-FX Ultra I have plenty to keep me busy and I have extraordinary tools to work with in the meantime.
 
The more I hear it the more I'm falling in love with it !!!
This is the most dynamic, organic, warm, alive, woody and complex sound I heard from any digital device so far, and it's as good (or even better) as the real thing !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
CLIFF THANK YOU SO MUCH !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
FractalAudio said:
An incredible amount of work went into the amp modeling. I spent three years refining the algorithms. Heck it took months just to figure out how to model an output transformer.

The Ultra is a great unit. The Axe-Fx II is better. I wish I could retrofit the new algorithms into the Ultra but they won't fit. My latest modeling algorithms simply need a more powerful platform and that's why I developed the II. I listened to the users and developed a product based on their feedback.

The hardware in the Axe-Fx II is really good. Still using all film caps on the I/O. The D/A converters are now buffered with instrumentation amps for improved S/N when doing the 4CM. The circuit board is controlled impedance with gold-plated pads. The layout is "partitioned" and uses EMI filtering between partitions which achieves an incredibly low noise floor. The self-noise is so low that I can barely measure it with my audio interface.

There is a ton of RAM and FLASH for future expansion. There's a 200K gate FPGA that offloads tasks from the processor. Etc., etc., etc.

The Axe-Fx II is the finest hardware I've ever created in my 25+ years as a designer and I've designed probably over 100 circuit boards in that time.
Click to expand...
I love it when you talk dirty. :razz
 
Dramelot said:
Yep,

Impedance selector.. huh, Could it also be looked at as pickup modeling?
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The way I understand it is the impedance will resemble what the real life (read hardware) equivalent input impedance is. So not really pickup modeling since you already have a pickup in your guitar, but more like *more accurate* effects modeling...including the input impedance of said effect.
 
Scott Peterson said:


Very quick, very simple. The mp3 does the dynamics *no* justice.

PRS Custom 22, Axe-FX II direct.

Assorted amp/cabs. Room verb from cab block; slight reverb (2.5% wet) on some of them. Rotary on the first part of the Friedman BE. Spent 20 seconds setting up each tone. (No BS on that).
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Great quick and dirty, Scott. The dynamics on the AC-30 were off the hook, I could hear every change in pick pressure! I'm stunned. You could hear your pickup switch to the neck
plain as day.
 
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@ Scott: First of all, great playing. And those tones! Even a piker like me can appreciate the responsiveness of the Deuce, for example, when you dialed up the guitar volume on the Marsha. Really enjoyable.
 
That's very cool, but I'm concerned... I really am not a fan of the "warts and all" aspect with amps. I love the slick, produced, high gains on records. If the Axe 2 can sound MORE slick and studio produced than the Ultra... then I'm really excited.

I NEED TO HEAR MARK DAY PLAY SOME DOKKEN/WHITESNAKE/QUEENRYCHE/ETC. ON THE AXE 2!!!!! :D
 
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